Rep. Ilhan Omar’s marriage to a political consultant has drawn renewed focus to her campaign’s payments to her now-husband and his firm, which are at the center of a pending complaint with the Federal Election Commission. The story is here.
Omar (D-Minn.) on Wednesday [March 11] announced on Instagram that she had married Timothy Mynett, and the couple filed their marriage license in Washington that same day.
Following Omar’s marriage announcement, conservative critics raised concerns about payments by her campaign to E Street Group, which is run by Mynett.
“Taxpayers funded her campaign. Now they’re funding her marriage. How is this not an FEC violation?” conservative activist Charlie Kirk tweeted Thursday.
Citing an “irretrievable breakdown” in her marriage, Omar filed for divorce from her previous husband in October amid allegations that she was having an affair with Mynett, a consultant for her congressional campaign. Two months prior, Mynett’s then-wife had filed for legal separation, alleging Mynett was “romantically involved” with Omar.
There have been scandals involving Ilhan Omar and each of her three “marriages,” a veritable trifecta of scandal. She apparently married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2009, in a state ceremony. Some in the Somali community have claimed he is her brother, whom she “married” so that he could obtain a green card and study in the United States. She has brushed off that charge, as if it were too absurd to deserve an answer. The question remains, and many, including some Somali-Americans, would welcome an FBI investigation into the matter. There are reports that at the time she married Said Elmi, Ilhan Omar was also the wife of Ahmed Hirsi, whom she had married in 2002 in a Muslim ceremony not recognized by the state. She had two children with Hirsi before separating from him, and a third one with him after they got back together, that is, after she and Elmi had officially split (though they may never have behaved like man and wife). It seems that for some time Ilhan Omar, Ahmed Hirsi (husband number one), and Ahmed Nur Said Elmi (husband number two, and possibly her brother), all lived together, first in Minneapolis and then in North Dakota, where both Omar and Elmi enrolled at North Dakota State University. That unusual housing arrangement made sense, if Omar considered herself to be Ahmed Hirsi’s wife but also needed to make sure that government officials knew that Ahmed Nur Said Elmi was living in the same home with her, in order to buttress his claim of being her husband.
Recently a member of the Somali community in Minneapolis handed over to two FBI agents a trove of documents regarding Omar’s 2009 marriage to Elmi; the tight-lipped FBi has not yet said if, on the basis of those documents, it has opened an investigation into Ilhan Omar for marriage fraud, which carries a penalty of up to five years in jail and a $250,000 fine. She has certainly raised eyebrows from Minnesota to Washington to Mogadishu, with her various and highly unusual domestic arrangements. Her opponent in the 2020 election could provide a campaign slogan suitable for Ilhan Omar: “What a tangled web we weave, when e’er we practice to deceive.” One hopes that the FBI will not be afraid to look into her family arrangements; the agents will simply have to ignore the predictable shrill cries of “racism” and “islamophobia.” And whoever runs against her this fall should not let the matter drop but demand she explain fully to the American people her relationships with her three “husbands” – Ahmed Hirsi, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, and her current husband and overpaid political consultant, Timothy Mynett. Elmi may be hard to locate; he has left the United States for the U.K. Was that a move that Ilhan Omar, his ex-wife and possibly his sister, encouraged and paid for, to get him out of the way of pesky American reporters and investigators?
And then there is husband #3, Mynett, who runs a small political consultancy firm in Washington. With him too, there is a scent of scandal, but this one is purely financial.
Asked at the time [of reports of her being seen leaving Mynett’s apartment in the morning] by the CBS affiliate in Minneapolis whether she was dating anyone, she said, “No, I am not,” and declined to discuss personal matters. Mynett had denied that he was leaving his marriage for Omar or that he was in love with her.
Three lies were thus told:
1) by Omar, who was in fact dating Mynett at the time;
2) by Tim Mynett, was indeed leaving his wife for Omar; and
3) by Mynett, again, who was clearly in love with her.
Since 2018, Omar’s campaign paid about $586,000 to E Street Group for a range of services that included digital advertising, fundraising consulting, digital communications and design. The campaign also paid $7,000 to Mynett directly for fundraising consulting before hiring his consulting firm.
$586,000 to Mynett’s E Street group for a year’s (2019) work? That’s a gigantic sum for one off-election year — 2019 — of political consultancy. What were other first-time House members spending in 2019 for similar services? Those figures – compare, contrast — should prove enlightening.
Payments to the firm in the 2019-2020 cycle for Omar’s reelection campaign comprised 40 percent of total campaign expenses, federal filings show.
It is unusual for such a high percentage campaign’s expenses to be directed to one shop. In Omar’s case, fully 40% of her total campaign expenses paid for the services of Tim Mynett’s political consultancy. The shop was owned by Omar’s lover and future husband. She was, in effect, paying herself – for any such overpayments to Mr. Mynett would obviously benefit the woman who was soon to become Mrs. Mynett.
Representatives for Omar’s campaign and Mynett’s firm said this week that there was nothing improper about the payments because they were made for legitimate work.
Her campaign and the E Street Group claim there was “nothing improper” about these payments. There are ways to test that claim. How much money is given to other consulting firms of the same size and experience, for the same kind of work? Was the payment of nearly $600,000 paid to Mynett within the usual range for someone running for re-election to a House seat, or was it, as many suspect, a sum far above what would usually be paid to a single consultant in a non-election year? Has Tim Mynett’s E Street Group ever had a client who paid it anywhere near as much as did Ilhan Omar? Or was this, in every sense of the word, a sweetheart deal benefiting Mynett and his future wife?
But as news of the alleged affair unfolded, the conservative nonprofit National Legal and Policy Center filed an FEC complaint in August alleging Omar’s campaign had violated a prohibition on candidates using campaign money for personal use.
Campaign funds cannot be used for personal purposes, including paying for a candidate’s rent or any personal membership fees.
Federal laws allow candidates to use campaign funds to pay family and friends, as long as the money is used for a legitimate campaign expense and paid at fair market value.
Generally, the rationale is, as long as they’re doing real work, you can pay them as you’d pay anyone else. You can’t overpay them. It can’t be a no-show job or a low-show job. You have to actually do the work,” said Daniel Petalas, formerly the FEC’s acting general counsel and head of enforcement.
You can’t overpay them. Whether $586,000 should be seen as overpayment, or not, remains to be investigated. And you can’t pay their travel expenses, either, if the travel — the planes, the hotels – were for the personal pleasure of Ilhan Omar and her romantic companion, Timothy Mynett. It turns out she had been spending lavishly on such travel, and has had to pay thousands of dollars back to the campaign. Again, the purpose of each trip, the justification for Omar and Mynett having to travel so much together, the amount of travel expenses incurred, would all have to be investigated before deciding whether she has violated campaign finance laws.
A partner at E Street Group, Will Hailer, who co-founded the firm with Mynett, said on Friday that the payments went toward legitimate campaign work. He said most of the advertising-related payments had been passed on to vendors, as is the case with most advertising work.
The firm has about 18 employees and “on any given day, eight or more people could be touching her account at some point, between design, digital ads, social media, email content creation, high-dollar fundraising, political support and many other things that we provide for the campaign, Hailer said. “Similar to what we provide for countless other clients across the country.”
Hailer said he and Mynett began working for Omar’s campaign after years of political experience in her district and in Minnesota.
That is something the FEC could look into – just how much political experience did the E Street Group have, on what kinds of races, and with what results? Did they have a track record that allowed them to legitimately command fees of nearly $600,000 from a single client? Had any other candidates ever paid them nearly as much?
Omar campaign attorney David Mitrani echoed that point in a Thursday memo, which the campaign provided to The Washington Post on Friday, saying that the firm provided bona fide campaign services at fair market value.
“There is simply nothing unusual about the services that E Street Group provides to Ilhan for Congress — and nothing inappropriate with a vendor being reimbursed for travel for bona fide services — even if that vendor is run by a candidate’s spouse,” Mitrani wrote.
In its August complaint, the National Legal and Policy Center alleged that the campaign failed to disclose that payments to the firm “must be considered personal in nature” due to the reported relationship between its partner and the candidate.
“If Ilhan for Congress reimbursed Mynett’s LLC for travel so that Rep. Omar would have the benefit of Mynett’s romantic companionship, the expenditures must be considered personal in nature,” the complaint read.
The FEC lost its voting quorum shortly after the complaint was filed, and it is unable to take any official enforcement action on the pending complaint.
The FEC may not be able to take action on the complaint at the moment, but the American people, and especially the voters in her district, can certainly make up their own mind about Ilhan Omar’s providing her lover, and future husband, with almost all of his business, channeling business amounting to 40% of her total campaign expenditures is on the up-and-up, or whether it looks very fishy.
“As far as the nuptials, I think this event underscores the problems we cited in our complaint,” Peter Flaherty, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, said on Friday.
“You have a member of Congress paying a close friend and now-husband most of her campaign spending,” Flaherty added. “It still raises the question of whether it is to facilitate a personal relationship or whether Tim Mynett is the best possible vendor for all these possible activities.”
Ilhan, Ilhan. You have been so busy. In 2019 you were named Antisemite of the Year by the website stopantisemitism.org, beating out the formidable likes of Louis Farrakhan. The things you did to merit that title were truly impressive:
1. You accused American Jewry of possessing dual loyalty.
2. You alleged that Jews buy their influence with money, infamously stating “It’s all about the Benjamins.”
3. You accused Israel of having hypnotized the world.
4. You supported the antisemitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.
5. You submitted a resolution in the House of Representatives comparing boycotting Israel to boycotting the Nazis.
6. You had your antisemitic statements endorsed by infamous neo-Nazi David Duke.
And not content with that recognition, you are rushing headlong, it seems, into quite a different set of scandals. Judging by the reports, it’s possible that all by yourself you have managed to be guilty of marriage fraud, immigration fraud, bigamy, and violation of campaign financing laws. It’s taken a while, but at long last there may be an official investigation into all these interlocking offenses, and we’ll see if you have been unfairly maligned or if, instead, your many accusers have been right about you all along.
TruthSeeker says
Reeks of corruption from start to finish. She needs to be exposed and arrested.
Sharon ODonnell says
Arrested, Citizenship Revoked , And Deported .
Her and Her new Husband can shuffle off to Somalia….
He was being Paid From her illegal ill gotten campaign funds from jihadist groups .Lying on US citizenship ,Marriage Fraud, Tax fraud ,
Campaign Fraud. -She cant Stay .
mortimer says
DOUBLE STANDARDS
The Dems are perfect examples of hypocrites. They would howl and scream and cry blue murder if a Republican had entered or helped a family member to fraudulently gain citizenship … especially if there had been a FRAUDULENT MARRIAGE between and a brother and a sister.
I don’t know why it takes over five years to prosecute this transparent case of IMMIGRATION FRAUD.
Ilhan married her gay brother in a fraudulent marriage in a CHRISTIAN ceremony performed by a CHRISTIAN chapel minister.
How does a Muslim woman marry a gay man from her immediate family in Christian ceremony?
She also submitted fraudulent, joint, ‘married’ tax claims with her fraudulent brother-husband.
There are a number of crimes here that would have speedily been prosecuted had it been you or me … or in the case of a Republican member of congress.
Interestingly, the Somalis in Minnesota are disgusted with her opportunistic shenanigans.
Rarely says
Just living the American Dream (as she sees it).
mortimer says
… no, her ‘dream’ is an Islamic revolution and take-over … a nightmare for Jews and Christians.
She is a revolutionary.
Rarely says
Sarcasm Mortimer, sarcasm.
mortimer says
‘Rarely’, sarcasm is often invisible in writing because people cannot see the wry smile or arched eyebrow. Sarcasm in writing must be identified specially, since it is not obvious to most readers.
http://theconversation.com/why-is-sarcasm-so-difficult-to-detect-in-texts-and-emails-91892
Westman says
A Somali Pirate, reading about Omar, could realize he’s been doing it all wrong….
Giacomo Latta says
You start lying and cheating in the name of Allah and it doesn’t take long before there is seepage into other parts of your life.
mortimer says
NOW … the possibility of INTER-CLAN WARFARE in Minnesota …
EXCLUSIVE: Somali man who confirmed that Ilhan Omar married her brother says he is living in fear after a friend of the congresswoman posted a threatening YouTube video urging Somali-Americans to attack him
•Wheelchair-bound Abdihakim Osman came forward last month to confirm to DailyMail.com that Ilhan Omar married her own brother
•A woman close to Omar has posted a YouTube video packed with degrading insults about Osman
•Malyun Ali pressed members of her Somali-American clan to go after him
•‘Why are you not protecting us from this nasty man who is composed only of a head and a stomach,’ she said
•Osman has a ‘big bell, small udder, pillar-like head’, she added, and mocked his disability which was caused by contracting polio as a child in Somalia
•‘Why don’t you stop this crippled dog?,’ she asked
•Osman has made a complaint to the Minneapolis police
By Martin Gould In Minneapolis, Minnesota For Dailymail.com Published: 15:39 EDT, 16 March 2020 | Updated: 16:36 EDT, 16 March 2020
SEE MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE HERE: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8097281/Community-leader-confirmed-Ilhan-Omar-married-brother-living-fear.html
Niemoller says
LOL, Omar is the most crassly amoral politician of our time. It’s really all a joke to her; she has no ideology except for those who get in her way are her enemies and those who can be used to climb the ladder are her friends. Islam was the bag of garbage forced on to her at birth, and she has cynically and masterfully used it to her full advantage.
Hugh Fitzgerald says
Surely there must be enough here for the FBI to investigate, and to make public its findings before the 2020 election. As I listed above, there is possible immigration fraud, marriage fraud, bigamy, and violation of campaign finance laws. A lot to look into.
Stieve says
Hugh,
Your problem throughout this article is assuming that the voters in this broad’s district care about the law. Heavily islamized. Don’t seem to care about rape, so what are some pesky infidel rules about. “voting” and such other than annoyances?
Besides why would muslims care if one of their own pulls one over on the infidel Americans?
somehistory says
In the “news” article from last week, she was quoted regarding this new “marriage” and how it was for life, forever, or some such.
A woman…or man…who has been married three times before, twice to the same person, divorcing and sneaking around, has no track record to show anything to do with “forever” or “life,” has any meaning for that person.
omar is a snake. How any *man* could see any good in her is beyond understanding. Why throw in with a liar…compulsive, taught by islam to lie…adulterer, fraudster, sneak, law-breaker, ingrate and a whole world of other evil?
Will there be a serious investigation? If there is any justice in the “justice department,” there will be. She needs to be sent back from when she came and her new husband can be investigated for his part in the “consulting fees” payments.
FYI says
She makes the Biblical Jezebel look pure and innocent.
Jezebel,the baal-worshipping fraud and false prophet who was deeply involved in Caananite cultic and political activities{I kings 16},promoting the gods baal and asherah who were to be worshipped on a national scale{sort of like today with omar’s al lah the Arab god whose ancestor was hubaal the god of the kaaba….huBAAL}
omar wants her modern version of baal,al Lah,the muslim ARAB god{the god of hate and deception}to replace the Judeo-Christian God.
baal of course is also the enemy god of YHWH,the enemy of the Jews…so it is no surprise that omar’s ARAB god al lah{aka hubaal,the god of the kaaba} is too.
somehistory says
The ba’al of old and the ba’al of current times…is one and the same. satan the devil inspires his “children” to worship him. The names he calls himself may change some, but the evil practices, the evil intent, and the evil he has planned, are all the same. He is focused on “blinding the minds” of people throughout the earth, trying to ensure that no one receives the eternal life Jesus promised to those putting faith in Him, in His Father, and their Word.
“Have faith in the Father; have faith also in me.” “This means everlasting life, the taking in of knowledge of You, the only True God and of the One whom You sent forth, Jesus Christ.”
FYI says
“If the Lord is God follow Him.
But if baal{..or “allah”/hubaal..} be your god
follow him”
I kings 18 v 21
Thus Elijah shows there are TWO clear paths.One true,one false.
To the extent that Jews and Christians follow the SAME Biblical commandment system{2 chief laws.#1Deut 6:4-9,#2 Lev 19:18 plus the Exodus 20 Decalogue},it is the Lord God they follow.
To the extent that muslims follow a god who gives permission to violate the Exodus 20 Decalogue,who does not subscribe to the 2 chief commandments etc,muslims follow a different god,an ARAB god who admits to being a champion at deceiving people k3:54
Of course muslims think their islamic koranic god allah is the same as the Biblical God but this is clearly not so.muslims are on a different path and their clergy are like the priests of baal:they can’t see it{or don’t want to see it}
And who is the “prophet” muhamed only a prophet of bAAL{or “allah”,the modern name for hubaal,the god of the kaaba}
Politicallyincorrectistruth says
For “somehistory says” and “FYI”… ALL religion is superstitious nonsense ..only some are still brainwashed by their parents and cannot see the blindingly obvious….that religion is for gullible fools. Our species is slowly climbing out of our superstition and witchcraft ideas and using our brain. All religious institutions have a pathological fear of “reason”. “reason” is their enemy…that`s why religious people stick their fingers in their ears and shout LA LA LA LA when someone tries to reason with them. It`s so amusing when christians come on this website and say that their religion is the only true religion and islam is not….which is EXACTLY what muslims do with islam.So your imaginary god is real and theirs is not…..so funny!
James Lincoln says
Politicallyincorrectistruth says,
“ALL religion is superstitious nonsense.”
I am a Christian, but let’s – for a brief moment – theoretically assume that your statement is true.
This does not change the fact that the ONLY widely practiced religion that is CURRENTLY causing MAJOR problems in the world is islam.
The rest of the widely practiced religions are currently essentially benign…
somehistory says
Politicallyincorrectistruth
Your feelings of superiority are coming through loud and clear. Your “reasoning” powers, however, are totally silent.
The Bible foretold people like you…”mockers”…and “ridiculers”…and the Book of Psalms tells of the “foolish one” who states that “there is no God.”
One day, all mankind will learn just who is correct…you are those who believe in Christ and His Heavenly Father.
One final point: Christians have much of which to look forward. It seems you have nothing of the sort. Once you are dead and gone, your children, if you have any, can just forget you ever existed as they have no hope of ever seeing you again.
gravenimage says
Good post, James.
mortimer says
Definition of a JEZEBEL: an immoral woman who deceives people in order to get what she wants; a shameless, scheming, wily, cunning, power-hungry or manipulative woman; an impudent, histrionic or morally unrestrained woman; a woman who is designing, crafty, malicious, revengeful, and cruel; a chippie, doxy, floozy, hoochie, hussy, minx, quean, tramp, wench, trollop, Mata Hari.
gravenimage says
Mortimer, I have never heard the term quean and cannot find it. Do you have links? I’m always interested in new words.
Politicallyincorrectistruth says
Cannot find it? I googled it and it came up with,
Quean.. an impudent or badly behaved girl or woman.
– a prostitute.
gravenimage says
I still can’t find it, Politicallyincorrectistruth–when I google it, it asks if I mean “Qur’an”.
I’ll take your word for it, though–that certainly sounds right.
RichardL says
can someone, who is a lawyer explain, why this is not taken up by the feds? I get why a fellow jihadi, Keith Ellison, is not taking action against her, but why haven’t the feds looked into this?
James Lincoln says
Good question RichardL…
mortimer says
At Least 3 Federal Agencies Are Investigating Ilhan Omar
https://clarionproject.org/3-federal-agencies-investigating-ilhan-omar/
Omar is under investigation by at least three federal agencies: the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Education (DOE) Inspector General, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In 2019, the FBI held a formal meeting to discuss the evidence against Omar. It has since found this evidence compelling enough to share with the other agencies
The DOE is evaluating evidence that Omar married a UK citizen in 2009 with the possible intent to commit student loan fraud
ICE is looking at the marriage to a UK citizen through the lens of immigration fraud. This is in reference to the widely circulating rumor that Ilhan Omar married her brother.
Possible crimes by Ilhan Omar date back to 2016 when there was already enough evidence to formally look into her background. Publicly available state records plus her own social media posts were significant first-hand evidence. Most were saved before Omar began scrubbing the evidence.
Throughout the investigations, Omar has sailed through media scrutiny because she was packaged and presented by liberals as an opportune foil against President Trump.
As Steinberg warns Americans of Ilhan Omar’s conduct, he underscores that, “The facts describe[d] perhaps the most extensive spree of illegal misconduct committed by a House member in American history.”
RichardL says
mortimer, how can you be so competent and informed on so many things. It is amazing.
gravenimage says
Thanks, Mortimer.
James Lincoln says
Thanks for the latest info on this, mortimer.
Glad that the feds are actually looking into this – and, hopefully, follow-up with action…
Indigo says
Such low class,corrupt evil and she thinks she is so clever. She is not clever. Its just that those who vote for her as incredibly stupid. But, we must also say that those who are supposed to uphold law and order are also kind of stupid to allow it to go on and on and on.
gravenimage says
Scandal-Ridden Ilhan Omar Marries Her Political Consultant
………………..
How many marriages–including the one to her brother–does this make at this point?
wpm says
At this point could she be targeted by her fellow “Jihadist” of breaking “Sharia law”? If her power base disappears she is thrown out of office ,her usefulness to the cause is gone ,what makes her think she will be safe from her own kind?
James Lincoln says
wpm,
You are correct.
If she is no longer useful – she will not be safe from her fellow muslims…
gravenimage says
Yes–back in Somalia, she would already have been stoned to death.
OLD GUY says
She seems to be the perfect politician, a lying, cheating, egotistic. Throw in islamic and she has the perfect cover to get away with everything.
TruthHonestReality says
She hates white people but she cheats on her brother(gross) with a WHITE MAN!?
Side note – Anyone ever see that video of AOC’s white boyfriend where she asks him to tell all white people why they ARE racist? His voice and the way he says the word “and” says it all! I bet this guy sounds the same exact way as AOC’s ‘boy’friend.
I’ve always know that leftist and Democrap men are total betas!
gravenimage says
I doubt she was actually sleeping with her brother–this seemed more like an immigration scam. Not that this makes it much better…
' T ' says
She married her consultent.. For a reason… No courts can Compel a Husband and Wife to testify against each other… Just another Crime Committed that she got away with… Shame on the Investigators 7 MONTHS NOW INTO THEIR SO CALLED investigation… Ilhan Omar beat them again..
LT. ' T ' says
With all the Tax payers dollars, and donations.. ( ALL about the Benjamins now in her own words ) Passing her way.. Like many CROOKED politicians making MILLIONS upon Millions be selling their political seats from Behind Closed doors deals.. Ilhan Omar needed a way to hide that MONEY.. So she USED yes USED her campaign adviser to WASH the money so it would come back Clean.. When she found out that she was being investigated… First she denied having any affair with her Consultant.. But the Commission started getting close…SO She married the very person that in her own words. ( ‘ I had no affair with him ‘) How is that possible!!! To marry any person you really don’t know!!!.. It’s because what I posted before, no court can force a husband and wife to testify against each other. Even if indicted… Any old fashion street cop knows that… It’s been 7 months now that THREE Federal agencies have been investigating Omar… Yet Nothing…. She married her Consultant to keep what they both did HIDDEN… Channelling Millions of Corruption obtained dollars… AMERICA there is a way around that.. Charge them BOTH with RACKETEERING. Under the RICO ACT the Fed’s can CONFISCATE EVERYTHING THEY HAVE!!!!!